|
Responses to Reviews of the Book ‘Preying’
(If you know of a review not cited below, please don’t hesitate to send us the details.)
REVIEW by Diane Roblin-Lee
“I applaud John Cambridge for daring to
step out in his “beloved world” of evangelicals and confront issues
of sexual child molestation in the Church. Child molesters count on
their victims and the families of their victims to hide in the
silence of shame. Preying takes a firm step
out of the shadows, lifting any perceived shame from victims and
putting it squarely where it belongs – on the shoulders of ‘Jeckyll
and Hyde’ perpetrators in pews and pulpits. Until we shine the light
into the dark corners of our churches, our precious children cannot
be safe. Thank you John, for applying your heart, your excellent
research and your dedication to upholding authenticity in the Church
to the protection of our little ones. JOHN’S RESPONSE
I was very humbled by this review. (In
a separate email, Diane was also sweet enough to describe the
manuscript as “Excellent work.”
Additionally she made reference to “all the wonderful aspects” of
the book, [Email on file, July 25th 2011].)
“For the past decade the news has been replete with reports of child sexual abuse at the hands of Roman Catholic priests. The scandal has reached the very highest echelons of the Vatican whose prelates have sanctioned the relocation of pedophile priests and bishops while keeping their offenses secret. But the finger is not pointed only at the Roman Catholic Church. Such abuse has been occurring in other congregations far more often than has been revealed. The abuse has been committed [by] those who hold a high degree of trust within the congregations. Five years in the making, Preying presents a thorough job of addressing the problem from a biblical perspective and offers this warning: if you think your child is immune to the wiles of sexual predators inside your church, it’s time to wake up. And it does no good to stick one’s head in the sand in order to avoid the unsavory truth that should concern all parents and others who love children. John Cambridge does a masterful job of outlining the types of predators who infiltrate churches and family circles in order to work their evil. This book reveals how such abuse is on the increase throughout the denominations and explains why this growth is taking place. The author offers scriptural and practical advice on implementing the simple, God-ordained ways in which assemblies can avoid this problem and keep their children safe from even the most cunning, determined and experienced molesters. He also counters arguments offered by those who reject God’s Word as the solution, preferring to trust human wisdom to guide them. Psychology is not the answer, nor is any other form of human wisdom. Only God’s Word applied through the leading of the Holy Spirit holds the answer. And for those who think God would never allow innocent children who believe in Him to be harmed in such a way, John reminds us of Jesus’ warning that “whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in Me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea.” (If, as some folks think, God automatically protects any child who soundly believes in Him, why did the Lord choose to give such a warning about the abuse of exactly this category of child?) Since child molestation is extraordinarily serious to our God, it should be similarly so among His people too. Every parent should read Preying. But not only parents. Every leader within the assembly should read it as well in order to learn or be refreshed on God’s Word as it applies to trust within the assembly for those given places of ministry.” JOHN’S RESPONSE I was thrilled by Al’s kind remarks about the book.
REVIEW by VirtualBookworm "Three of our reviewers looked it over ... and all three agreed this is material that definitely needs to "get out" to the masses. Therefore, we would definitely like to publish it." [Source: Email on File, July 8th 2011] JOHN’S RESPONSE VirtualBookworm's email was a real blessing and encouragement to me. They make the lion's share of their income from sales of books rather than from anything else, so they are choosy about the manuscripts they accept. As their website states, "we carefully review each manuscript and only offer contracts to authors who truly have exceptional manuscripts."
|